GENTILESCHI, Artemisia
(Rome, 1593–Naples, after 1654)
The daughter of the painter Orazio Gentileschi (1563–1639), Artemisia Gentileschi is one of the foremost women painters of the Early Modern Era. She was born in Rome and trained in her father’s studio, learning in particular the art of drawing from him and largely imitating his models during her youth. In addition to Rome, she lived in Florence (1614–1620), where she entered the circle of Cosimo II de’ Medici. It was thanks to her work and contacts in the Tuscan capital that, in 1616, she became the first woman to be admitted to the Academy of the Arts of Drawing. In 1630 she moved to Naples, establishing her own studio and devoting herself to intense artistic activity (in part for Philip IV of Spain). Her work would influence painters like Massimo Stanzione, Paolo Domenico Finoglia, Bernardo Cavallino and others. A cosmopolitan artist and an independent woman, she travelled frequently, staying for extended periods in different places. One such was London, where in 1638–1639 she joined her father, who was working on the ceiling of the Queen’s House in Greenwich.
Associated initially with the mellow Caravaggism of her father, and the elegance of his models, she subsequently developed her own distinct style, employing light and colour effects more akin to Neo-Venetianism that had a significant impact on Neapolitan painting at the time. She primarily focused on historical and religious themes, in which the female figure and nudes occupied a prominent place.
